INTERTANKO ADDRESSES THE USCG MODEL PORT WORKSHOP

Published:

22 February 2002 06:48

Updated:

27 September 2011 10:14

The Workshop was addressed by USCG Commandant,
Admiral Loy, who appreciated the INTERTANKO interest and contribution. He
recognised that the public is unaware that 95% of goods moved to and from US are
transported by sea and thus does not realise the importance of this sector to
the US economy. Although the other means of transportation and their network and
support logistics are new (roads, airports), ports structure and port locations
may even be as old as a few hundreds years. These have to be updated to meet the
expectations of the 21st century. He also stressed that the events of
last year gave a new dimension to this task, namely port and ship security. The
results of these activities are expected in a model Port Template against which
each port can measure its standards and performance. The Template is expected to
be flexible and based on performance standards that would enable each port to
address its own particularities in terms of security and safety
assessments.

The INTERTANKO presentation brought into discussion
the recommendations in its 1997 Ports and Terminal Study. INTERTANKO expressed
the opinion that by implementing measures to promote environmental protection
and safety of navigation, tankers would contribute to the security of waterways
and harbour environments. Like the US MTS Study, the INTERTANKO “Safe
Transportation” mission has taken on a new dimension in relation to the security
of the people onboard, the ship itself and the ports at which ships call.
INTERTANKO will support and assist all these endeavours. Its efforts to achieve
increased transparency of information on both crew and cargo onboard but also on
the ships’ historical records had to some extent anticipated the new
developments. However, INTERTANKO also recommended that the extent to which the
problem of security could be solved by the ship alone should not be
overestimated. Finally it called for a simple and straightforward regulation
that should only cover risks/threats that can be contained or monitored at this
point in time. INTERTANKO also commended the US for its decision to take this
initiative to IMO and work for international
solutions.